Commission vs Allowance (parents, clothes, son, permanent)
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I do not know whether it is better or not, but we had a quiz after church. You could only take the quiz if you did your chores. The quiz was on the church service, not just the sermon or music, but could include anything. How many people in the choir? Who had purple hair? Whose husband is having knee surgery? What was the refrain of the third hymn. Most of the questions are meaningful about the sermon points or bible verses. They get either 50 cents or $1 for each question they get right depending on the number of questions (usually 10 - 20). They love it. Now with only one young enough to qualify for a measured allowance, the young adults still like to take the quiz after church if they are home and attend.
You give them money for being observant?
In our family that was just something we expected.
Allowance/spending money isn't a right, it's a privilege.
Totally agree.
My method is this: My daughter has a list of chores to do daily as well as a few that she only has to do 2 or 3 times a week.
Her allowance is $15 per week: I first divide the $15 by the number of chores she has. I take that amount and multiply it by the number of chores she actually completed and that's how much allowance she will get. If she completes every single chore without having to be reminded at all, I give her a $5 bonus.
This teachers her: You don't get paid for what you don't do. It also shows her that if you do your job well and be responsible, etc, you can earn a bonus.
Chores get done because as a member of the family you have responsibilities.
Allowance gets given because as a member of the family you have a right to have spending money.
We did the 30% system for all money (birthdays, allowance, etc) the kids got, 30% for long term savings, 30% for short term savings (something they pick) and the last 40% for pocket money and daily expenses.
But you never chose to be a member of the family, so why should they have responsibilities?
That works fine in something you volunteer to be part of.
Also, if you mandate a certain breakdown for their allowance money, then it's not really allowance.
For instance, that 30% goes into a black hole. How much money do you think that's really going to add up to? Even if it added up to $10,000 by the time the child is 18, in terms of raw purchasing power, that money was more valuable in the child's teen years. $10,000 can't even pay for half a semester of a good college.
When my kids start driving I give them a monthly allowance. Before that I give them money periodically so that they have some money to spend, but it isn't a set amount at a set interval. I might give my 14 year old $20 when he goes to the movies with friends and let him keep all of it. When he runs out I give him more. My kids are pretty good with money so they don't run out and spend it all at once.
They do have a chance to earn extra money by doing extra things like powerwashing the patio, trimming the bushes, washing/drying our cars (but not the ones they drive) or other things that come up.
My 19 year old made it through his freshman year without asking for money outside of what we agreed to pay for so we must be doing ok with the money.
But you never chose to be a member of the family, so why should they have responsibilities?
REALLY?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beat_the_Streak_MLB
Even if it added up to $10,000 by the time the child is 18, in terms of raw purchasing power, that money was more valuable in the child's teen years. $10,000 can't even pay for half a semester of a good college.
But it will pay for 4 years of spending money so that the kid doesn't need to work during college. Or a down payment on a car. Or new computer. Savings can be spent. It is a good to get kids in the habit of saving their money for expensive items.
But it will pay for 4 years of spending money so that the kid doesn't need to work during college. Or a down payment on a car. Or new computer. Savings can be spent. It is a good to get kids in the habit of saving their money for expensive items.
Well you could easily give him spending money during college.
I am not a huge fan of paying someone for what they ought to be developing the skill and attitude to be doing anyway. There seems to be discussion of rights and responsibilities which is easy to get distracted by. The bottom line is that home maintenance education is Good For Them like eating vegetables. Contribution to whatever is their society/family/group/clan/classroom is also good for them. Participating in the benefits and duties of the group is good for them. My opinion.
I am not a huge fan of paying someone for what they ought to be developing the skill and attitude to be doing anyway. There seems to be discussion of rights and responsibilities which is easy to get distracted by. The bottom line is that home maintenance education is Good For Them like eating vegetables. Contribution to whatever is their society/family/group/clan/classroom is also good for them. Participating in the benefits and duties of the group is good for them. My opinion.
As is learning to make decisions based on how much money is available to them (including whether an item is "worth" that cost to them), having the discipline to save for something they want, and the patience to wait until they can afford it.
For my son, we have chores divided into two categories:
First, we have certain chores that my 7 year old son does just as part of being a member of our family...keep room picked up, clean playroom when asked, make bed, etc. He receives no money for these, but they are expected to be completed everyday.
Second, we have a jar full of extra chores for which he can earn money....$1 per chore. These chores are a little more complex or time consuming...do his own laundry, water all the plants on the patio, empty and load the dishwasher. He can pick one chore a day from the jar each day of the week, or not. The choice is his...but if he wants to buy a particular toy or whatever (and its not christmas or birthday), he will need to earn the money to pay for it. This helps him learn the value of money, and improves his money counting/math skills because he has to work out how much he needs, how much he has, how much. He is paid at the end of the week, and initially he was tempted to spend it all then. He now he has learned that higher priced items take longer to earn but have a greater reward in the end. That lesson has been slower to come, but we didn't rush it. He figured it out on his own just going through the process, so this his how we are teaching him the value of saving at this time. As he gets older, we will open an account for him to save his money in.
So by structuring chores/commission this way, we were hoping to teach him that there are some things you need to do as a responsible person regardless of compensation, but that if you push yourself to work hard and go above and beyond, there is a reward at the end.
Last edited by PlanoGirl; 05-12-2013 at 09:56 AM..
Everyone who lived in our house shared in the maintaining of the household.
Our kids got expense money. We paid them to do what we would pay anyone else to do.
We did not do allowance because it was not realistic to get paid for being alive or the member of a group.
All three had paying jobs by the time they were 10. The girls were mother's helpers to families in the neighborhood. In the summer, they ran a backyard day camp for the little kids. As they got older, they babysat. By the time they were 16, they were working part time after school at regular businesses. At 12, boy bought one of those little machines to stripe small parking lots. He hustled the small offices and shops. He had to pay his dad to drive him. Dad swept the lot and helped him measure. He learned about expenses and profit early on. He also threw the weekly paper and mowed lawns.
Sure it was time consuming on us. But they learned early that nobody gets paid for sitting on their behinds.
The family supplied what they needed, they bought what they wanted.
They also sat at the table as their dad and I paid the bills every month. The learned how households and families operate.
They were expected to go to college. The family paid for it. They got scholarships and grants, but no loans.
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